The weird statues of Prague

Prague is a popular tourist destination, with several historic attractions famous all over the world, like its 15th-century astronomical clock, the iconic Old Town Square, and the medieval Charles Bridge, just to name a few. However, while walking around the city, it’s impossible not to notice various peculiar landmarks. In fact, Prague is populated by numerous weird and unique sculptures, sometimes hidden and located in strange places, but other times standing in plain sight. Here are a few of these strange sculptures.

The most famous one is surely the Head of Franz Kafka (Google Maps). This 10-meter-tall statue is dedicated to the writer and Prague native Franz Kafka, and it is made of 42 panels that rotate individually. As the statue changes its appearence constantly, the face of the writer can only be seen briefly, before the layers start rotating at different paces once again. The sculpture represents the inner struggles of Kafka, who suffered from depression his whole life, and was designed by Czech artist David Černý. As of 2024, the statue has been temporarily removed for restoration works.

The Head of Franz Kafka by David Černý when all layers are aligned to show the author’s face (Jindřich Nosek (NoJin), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0).

Černý actually designed several of the most peculiar statues in Prague. Not far from the Head of Franz Kafka is another of his works, called Horse (Google Maps). The statue is located inside a palace in the center of Prague and represents Wenceslas I, who was Duke of Bohemia in the 10th century and is venerated as the patron saint of the Czech Republic. However, the saint is sitting on an upside-down and apparently dead horse, mocking the equestrian statue of Wenceslas I located in the nearby Wenceslas Square.

Horse by David Černý (Thomas Ledl, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0).

Another statue by Černý that honors a historical figure in a weird way is Man Hanging Out (Google Maps). This sculpture is located above one of the many narrow cobblestone streets of the center of Prague, and appears as a man hanging by one hand from a pole, and about to fall to his death. The artwork actually depicts the founder of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, and it represents Černý’s uncertainy about 20th-century intellectualism, but might also be a reference to Freud’s fear of his own death.

Man Hanging Out by David Černý (Xosema, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0).

Černý also designed a fountain in Prague, in his own unique way. The fountain, called Piss (Google Maps), is located just outside the Franz Kafka Museum, and depicts two men urinating in a basin shaped like the Czech Republic. What’s even more unique is that visitors can send an SMS to a number displayed next to the sculpture, and the two figures will write the message in the water.

Piss by David Černý (Kenyh Cevarom, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0).

Probably the most unique of Černý’s works in Prague is Babies, which is actually a collection of sculptures in two different locations. The statues depict crawling babies with bar codes replacing part of their faces, and some of the pieces can be found on Kampa Island (Google Maps). Another, even more unique, collection of these statues are instead crawling up and down the Žižkov Television Tower (Google Maps).

The Babies by David Černý crawling on the Žižkov Television Tower (Rosa Menkman, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0).

Next up among Černý’s weird sculptures is London Booster (Google Maps). The art installation is made of a 1958 double-decker bus to which mechanical arms have been attached, allowing it to do push-ups. The entire structure of the bus was modified to resemble an athlete, with the addition of even sculpted buttocks. Originally placed in London for the 2012 Olympics, the statue was moved to the outskirts of Prague after the end of the games.

London Booster by David Černý (ŠJů, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0).

Also located at the outskirts of Prague is another work by Černý, called Trifot (Google Maps). This sculpture features large bulging eyes that move independently. The eyes have cameras inside, and what they see is broadcast in some monitors located around the area. The work is a reference to George Orwell’s 1984 and the dystopian future of unchecked government surveillance.

Trifot by David Černý (Jindřich Nosek (NoJin), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0).

While Černý is surely the main contributor to the weirdness of the statues in Prague, he is not the only artist that worked on the city’s unique sculptures. Jaroslav Róna is a prominent contemporary Czech sculptor, and created one of the most well-known of the weird statues of Prague, the Statue of Franz Kafka (Google Maps). Once again Franz Kafka was the inspiration behind a unique sculpture, with this artwork depicting the author riding on the shoulders of a large headless figure, in reference to Kafka’s story Description of a Struggle.

Statue of Franz Kafka by Jaroslav Róna (Myrabella, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0).

The Good Soldier Švejk is another 20th-century novel honored by a weird statue in Prague. The Statue of Jaroslav Hašek (Google Maps), designed by Karel Nepraš and Karolína Neprašová, is dedicated to the author of this novel, and shows the writer in a very minimalistic equestrian statue, with a bust of Hašek surrounded by the statue of a simplified horse.

The Statue of Jaroslav Hašek by Karel Nepraš and Karolína Neprašová (ŠJů, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0).

A much more ominous work is the Memorial to the Victims of Communism (Google Maps), located at the base of the Petřín hill. Designed by Olbram Zoubek, the work commemorates the victims of the Communist regime that ruled Czechoslovakia for decades. The memorial is made of six human figures depicted in an increasing state of decay, symbolizing the treatment of political prisoners under the Communist government.

Memorial to the Victims of Communism by Olbram Zoubek (Ala Kot, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0).

Not exactly a statue but still a peculiar sight is the R2-D2 Ventilation Shaft (Google Maps). This is an abandoned air vent located in the Folimanka Park, which was painted by anonymous artists to resemble the famous Star Wars droid R2-D2. Two concrete pieces were even added to the sides of the structure, to make it more similar to R2-D2.

R2-D2 Ventilation Shaft in the Folimanka Park.

Another strange hidden gem is Yellow Penguins (Google Maps). As the name suggest, this is a series of yellow penguins, 34 to be exact, located on a narrow platform along the banks of the Vltava river. The installation was made by a group of international artists to raise awareness to the problem of global warming, and all the pieces are made from recycled water bottles.

Yellow Penguins along the banks of the Vltava river.